Iranian baby coming to US for heart surgery after travel ban halt

A four-month old Iranian girl will get to enter the U.S. for heart surgery, following a judge’s ruling that halted President Trump’s travel ban that had kept the infant from getting lifesaving surgery.

Baby Fatemah’s plight went viral when it was reported she had been diagnosed with a heart condition and needed surgery unavailable in Iran. When family tried to bring her to the U.S. for the surgery, she was refused entry due to the executive order on immigration.

According to a new report by The New York Daily News, Fatemah has been granted a waiver to enter the U.S. and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has secured legal assistance and said doctors at Mt. Sinai have agreed to perform the procedure for free.

The report comes after Judge James Robart Friday night issued a temporary nationwide restraining order that immediately stopped President Trump’s executive order banning citizens of seven countries from entering the United States.

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Robart, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2003, ruled Friday that the executive order would be stopped nationwide, effective immediately.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, filed the lawsuit three days after Trump signed the executive order. The suit argued that the travel ban targets Muslims and violates constitutional rights of immigrants and their families.

The ruling, made at the request of Washington and Minnesota, is the broadest to date against Trump’s executive order.

Trump’s action bans people from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Somalia from entering the U.S. for 90 days. It also temporarily halts the United States’ refugee resettlement program for 120 days, while indefinitely suspending resettlement for refugees from Syria.

The executive order, issued last Friday, immediately stirred controversy when travelers who were en route to the U.S. when it was signed were detained at airports. Protesters have demonstrated at airports across the county.